The present invention relates in general to scrapped storage batteries, and in particular to a method for recovering lead and lead compounds from such scrapped batteries. In this method, the storage batteries are first crushed, whereby the resultant crushed pieces are freed of acid and in further steps the solid parts of lead, such as pole terminals and connecting straps, are separated from lead compounds such as lead oxides and lead sulfates, as well as from remaining materials, mostly plastics.
In prior-art methods of this kind, the preliminarily crushed solid parts of the battery are treated by a wet process during which large amounts of washing liquid (water) are consumed, the subsequent purification of which is difficult and expensive (German patent publication No. 12 24 935).
A process is also known during which the storage batteries are opened by means of cutting tools, whereby a substantial part of the acid flows away and the solid parts such as covers, housings, solid plates and separators of the batteries can now be sorted and separated and further treated (German published patent application 22 45 196). This method, however, requires too much manual work and a considerable washing and processing system including, for example, several crushing machines for treating the separate solid parts.